Song picture
PROCESSION OF THE KNIGHTS OF THE HOLY GRAIL
Like
Playlist
Comment Share
THE IS FROM RICHARD WAGNER'S 3 ACT OPERA 'PARSIFAL', 1ST PERFORMED AT BAYREUTH IN 1882. THE THEME OF 'PARSIFAL' IS TAKEN FROM THE CYCLE OF HOLY GRAIL MYTHS, BASED ON THE 13TH CENTURY POEM 'PARZIVAL' OF THE ARTHURIAN KNIGHT'S QUEST FOR THE HOLY GRAIL.
highschool bands jazz bands college bands all region bands community bands concert bands honor bands interlochen arts academy marching bands national music camp tmea all state bands university bands
Artist picture
Contemporary band compositions, classical music arrangements, marches, jazz, symphonies, overtures. A collection from bands that I have played in throughout hi
Hello and welcome! "Symphonic Band Performances" is a compilation of recordings from several high school and college bands that I played in including the TMEA (Texas) All State Band, the TMEA Region X All Region Band, the Interlochen Arts Academy National Music Camp, the Cal Poly Tech Band, San Luis Obispo, the USAF Golden West Band, and recordings from my h.s. band, Beaumont H.S. and a few band recordings that were passed down to me. Also included are various All State groups and college and university bands. I participated and played in the large majority of these recordings. There are no professional recordings here and every recording is Public Domain. Most are available for free download. Each song has been converted from the original analog or digital source and edited with Audacity or Dak software. In the majority of these recordings, I play the tenor sax or alto sax, b flat or e flat clarinet, or directing. I was drum major for 2 years in high school, I have a BA from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, where I studied music ed, composition and theory. I had about 500 more recordings I was planning to digitize and upload, but this past Nov. 20th, my home was completely destroyed by fire, and all the contents, including all my music and instruments. So, this is it. Please feel free to post a comment here or on my member page. If you like, please become a fan by clicking "I'm a fan" below.
Song Info
Genre
Classical • Medieval
Peak in subgenre #4
Author
Richard Wagner - 1879
Rights
public domain
Uploaded
November 04, 2009
Track Files
MP3
MP3 12.8 MB • 224 kbps • 7:57
Story behind the song
This is performed by the outstanding 1967 University of Michigan Symphonic Band, conducted by the famed director, William D. Revelli. Mr. Revelli directed the band from 1935-1971. Richard Wagner completed "Parsifal," a festival acting-drama in 1879. It was first performed at Bayreuth, Bavaria, on July 22, 1882, only about seven months before Wagner's death. The theme of "Parsifal" is taken from the cycle of Holy Grail myths to which "Lohengrin" also belongs. In "Lohengrin," Lohengrin in his final address declares himself son of Parsifal, the King of the Grail. It is with this Parsifal that Wagner's last work is concerned. Parsifal is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner. It is loosely based on Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, the 13th century epic poem of the Arthurian knight Parzival (Percival) and his quest for the Holy Grail. During the first act, Parsifal, an apparently witless fool, sees the suffering of the wounded Amfortas, King of an order of knights who guard the Grail. In the second Act Parsifal wanders into the domain of Klingsor, a magician who is trying to corrupt the Knights of the Grail and who has stolen from them the Holy Spear used to pierce Jesus Christ during his crucifixion. There Parsifal meets Kundry, the slave of Klingsor, who attempts to seduce him. In resisting her, he destroys Klingsor, and recovers the Spear. In the third Act, Parsifal returns to the Grail Kingdom to heal Amfortas. Wagner first conceived the work in April 1857 but it was not finished until twenty-five years later. It was to be Wagner's last completed opera and in composing it he took advantage of the particular sonority of his Bayreuth Festspielhaus. Parsifal was first produced at the second Bayreuth Festival in 1882. The Bayreuth Festival maintained an exclusive monopoly on Parsifal productions until 1903, when the opera was performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Wagner preferred to describe Parsifal not as an opera, but as "ein B?hnenweihfestspiel" - "A Festival Play for the Consecration of the Stage". At Bayreuth a tradition has arisen that there is no applause after the first act of the opera. In Christian mythology, the Holy Grail was the dish, plate, cup or vessel that caught Jesus' blood during his crucifixion. It was said to have the power to heal all wounds. A theme joined to the Christianised Arthurian mythos relates to the quest for the Holy Grail. The legend may be a combination of genuine Christian lore with a Celtic myth of a cauldron endowed with special powers. Whether graal is Celtic or Old French, it never refers to any cup or bowl but this. Though some Christian revisionists insist that the Holy Grail is not to be confused with the Holy Chalice, the vessel which Jesus used at the Last Supper to serve the wine, this has been the historical practice; various vessels have been put forward as the Last Supper chalice. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, it was only after the cycle of Grail romances was well established, identifying the cup of the Last Supper with the Grail that late medieval writers came up with a false etymology from the fact that in Old French, san grial means "Holy Grail" and sang rial means "royal blood". Since then, Sangreal is sometimes employed to lend a medievalizing air in referring to the Holy Grail. This connection with royal blood bore fruit in a modern best-seller linking many historical conspiracies. The development of the Grail legend has been traced in detail by cultural historians: it is a Gothic legend, which first came together in the form of written romances, deriving perhaps from some pre-Christian folkloric hints, in the later 12th and early 13th centuries. The early Grail romances centered on Percival and were then woven into the more general Arthurian fabric. The Grail romances were French; though they were translated into other European vernaculars, no new essential elements were added.
Song Likes
Comments
Please sign up or log in to post a comment.